Here you find the 8 essential tools for your bike holidays in line with our full holiday packing list. – Imagine you are on mountain bike holidays on a beautiful island somewhere in the mediterranean sea. After a scenic ride on the trails you recognize the saddle got loose or a chain link is about to break. Minor technical problems are no big deal when you are at home and close to your toolboy or a bike repair shop. Sure you can find bike shops almost everywhere, but it saves you a lot of time and hassle when you bring these 8 essential tools: Moreover, you can check your bike after every day in just a few minutes having everyting at hand.

  1. MULTITOOL
  2. LEATHERMAN
  3. PUMP
  4. SUSPENSION PUMP
  5. SUSPENSION LUBE
  6. CHAIN LUBE
  7. TORQUE WRENCH
  8. RAGS

1. MULTITOOL

A proper multitool is essential for every mountain biker. Therefore, we take at least one of the tools on the daily trips. It should cover the basic tools you need and have allen keys (hex keys), a flat-head screwdriver, a Phillips screwdriver (cross-head), a chain splitter, tyre levers, spoke keys, a knife and optionalyl if needed: box spanner 8, 9 and 10 mm and Torx keys.

There are multiple tool on the market and you find many comparisons and tests online. We personally use a Topeak ALIEN multitool for less than 50,- €.

2. LEATHERMAN

The leatherman completes your multitool. The tool adds a pair of pliers and other useful things to your travel tool kit. Moreover, it is also useful for opening bottles and cans during travels. That is why we believe it is one of the 8 essential tools for mountain bike holidays. You are asking yourself whether to buy an imitation or the original? Well, Aron Ralston said in an interview after the movie “127 hours” that he will never buy an imitation again 😉

3. PUMP

We guess there is no need to highlight the pump as an essential tool. Anyhw, for travelling it is important to buy a lightweight but efficient pump. Furthermore, it is definitely worth to invest in a pump with a pressure gauge!

4. SUSPENSION PUMP

The suspension pump is for sure an essential tool for mountain bike holidays. We even take a suspension pump on every day trip with the bike. Sometimes you recognize during a downhill your suspension has to be optimized. In that case you are happy to carry one with you.

5. SUSPENSION LUBE

For all non-metal parts that need lubrification suspension lube is a good choice. Moreover, it is very useful for cleaning the stanchion tubes, shafts and sealings.

6. CHAIN LUBE

The chain lube is one of the things people tend to forget. Even though it is an essential “tool” from our point of view. No matter if you biked in a dry and dusty area or it was wet and muddy. Clean and lube the chain after the rides! Usually we do it in the evening so that the lube has time to dispense properly inside the chain links over night.

7. TORQUE WRENCH

The torque wrench is a completion of the real tools for your bike holidays. You may think it is too much to carry with you. Still we say it is an essential! If you apply the correct torque on your mountain bike parts, they will last much longer and your set up will also be much safer.

If you tighten the parts to hard, the inner stress inside the material will be too high and the chance the parts break increases. On the other hand if they are too loose it is dangerous they could change position during biking and in wear at the interface increases significantly. Furthermore, I once read a study that even experienced mechanics cannot “feel” the correct torque. Okay, maybe enough with the technical talk. Just get a torque wrench! 🙂

8. RAGS

Finally we recommend to bring one rag for cleaning the parts of the drive train (an old shirt does the job) and another for the sensitive parts of the suspension (a soft cloth). Both doesn´t weigh a lot and helps you bringing the important parts of your mountain bike in good condition for the next day.

1 reply
  1. schwinn gtx 2 review
    schwinn gtx 2 review says:

    Hi Admin you have provided a tremendous job stating “8 essential tools for mountain bike holidays”. I think all the tools are very important for a mountain biker especially when he starts a bike tour & he get minor trouble like the saddle got loose. Rider can easily make it fix on the spot anyway by the knowledge of the tips you have provided.

    Reply

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